Pianotech

  • 1.  Grand piano rocks when played

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 2 hours ago

    Hello all, 

    Is there a way to keep a small grand (5'8") from rocking while playing and pedaling?  Does caster wheel orientation make a difference?  It is sitting in 5" caster cups on carpet.  

    Thanks!



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    Laura Wright, RPT
    Ivory Keys Piano Service
    Durango CO
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  • 2.  RE: Grand piano rocks when played

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 2 hours ago
    Yes, the direction of the caster do make a difference. They should be sideways. But that's not the reason the piano rocks. The reason the piano rocks in the first place is because the player is pushing the pedal to the rear, instead of pushing down on the pedal.

    Wim  



    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Grand piano rocks when played

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 2 hours ago

    Laura,

    You might need to use a "piano jack". Check to make sure the joints of the legs are solid and the leg locks are tight. They can get worn.



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    Eugene Taets RPT
    Silvis IL
    (309) 796-2888
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Grand piano rocks when played

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted an hour ago

    I once had a piano like this.  A very small grand.  It turned out that there was a gap between the leg and the leg-plate.  The only cure, which I did not attempt, was to disassemble the leg and reglue it.  Other than that, there was not much else to do except to replace it, and all three legs were the same.  As far as I know, it's still rockin'..



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    Paul McCloud, RPT
    Accutone Piano Service
    www.AccutonePianoService.com
    pavadasa@gmail.com
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Grand piano rocks when played

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted an hour ago

    As a teenager, I was in a garage band trio (that happened to feature Nels Cline, long the lead guitarist in Jeff Tweedy's band "Wilco"). We went by a few different names during our tenure together, one of which was "Three Can't Rock." We were being ironic! We thought that we rocked well enough, but the name came from the notion that, at least theoretically, anything with three legs canNOT rock, regardless of discrepancies in leg length. Anything with more than three contact points with the ground (such as upright pianos) could and would rock if all casters were not in (equal) contact with the floor.

    Maybe I am missing something here, but for something with three legs (like most grand pianos), if it were to rock, wouldn't that mean that it only has two points of contact at any given time? Hard to imagine. Are you sure that the pedal lyre is not acting as a third contact point, which would allow the piano to rock when weight shifted from one pair of the actual legs to another?

    Best,

    Alan



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    Alan Eder, RPT
    Herb Alpert School of Music
    California Institute of the Arts
    Valencia, CA
    661.904.6483
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    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Grand piano rocks when played

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 43 minutes ago

    In my experience, small grands do have a tendency to rock on caster cups. Wim's suggestion about wheel orientation may help in reducing excess movement.



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    Patrick Draine RPT
    Billerica MA
    (978) 663-9690
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    Original Message